Conway Twitty

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"Twitty" redirects here. For the city, see Twitty, Texas.

Conway Twitty

Conway Twitty (born Harold Lloyd Jenkins on September 1, 1933 in Friars Point, Mississippi, died June 5, 1993 in Missouri) was one of the United States' most successful country music artists of the 20th century. He had the most singles (55) reach Number 1 on various national music charts. Most commonly thought of as a country music singer, he also enjoyed success in early Rock and Roll, R&B, and Pop music (among others).

Harold Lloyd Jenkins was named by his great uncle after his favorite comical silent movie actor, Harold Lloyd. The Jenkins family moved to Helena, Arkansas (now known as Helena-West Helena, Arkansas) when Jenkins was 10 years of age, and it was in Helena that Jenkins put together his first singing group, the Phillips County Ramblers. Two years later, he had his own local radio show every Saturday morning. Jenkins also practiced his second passion, baseball. He received an offer to play with the Philadelphia Phillies after high school, but he was drafted into the Army, which effectively put an end to that dream.

After his discharge from the Army, Jenkins again pursued a music career. After hearing Elvis Presley's song, "Mystery Train", he began writing rock 'n' roll material. As a matter of course, he headed for the Sun Studios in Memphis, Tennessee and worked with Sam Phillips, owner and founder of Sun Studios, to get the "right" sound.

Harold Jenkins felt that his real name wasn't marketable, and he changed his show business name in 1957. (Harold Lloyd Jenkins would always remain his legal name, however). Looking at a road map, he spotted Conway, Arkansas and Twitty, Texas. Thus, he went with the professional name of "Conway Twitty".

Conway Twitty and his band were in Hamilton, Ontario in 1958 and were playing the Flamingo Lounge where Hamilton Place Auditorium is located today. Legend has it that the drummer, Jack Nance, wrote "It's Only Make Believe" between sets, although another story puts them at the nearby Fischer Hotel. The song was recorded in 1958 and became the first of nine Top 40 hits for Twitty, selling eight million copies.^[1]

Twitty's fortunes changed 1958, while he was with MGM Records. An Ohio radio station did not play "I'll Try", an MGM single that went basically nowhere in terms of sales, radio play, and jukebox play, but instead played the "B side" of the single. The B side was a song called "It's Only Make Believe". It was popular in Ohio, and was gradually becoming popular throughout the country, as well. For a brief period in Twitty's career, some believed that he was Elvis Presley recording under a different name. This was largely the case with "It's Only Make Believe." The record took nearly one year in all to reach and stay at the top spot of the charts. The song went on to sell over 8 million records and to No. 1 on the Billboard pop music charts in the U.S. as well as No. 1 in 21 different nations. Twitty would go on to enjoy rock-n-roll success with a hard rock song like, "Danny Boy" and "Lonely Blue Boy". "Lonely Blue Boy" was orginially titled "Danny" and was recorded by Presley for the film King Creole, which was never used in the film soundtrack.

Conway Twitty always wanted to record country music and in 1965 he did just that. His first few country albums were met with country DJs refusing to play them because he was well known as a rock-n-roll singer. He finally broke free with his first number one country song, "Next In Line" in 1968.

In 1970, Conway recorded and released "Hello Darlin".

In 1971 he released his first hit duet with Loretta Lynn, "After the Fire Is Gone". It was a success, and many more followed, including "Lead Me On" (1971), "Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man" (1973), "As Soon As I Hang Up the Phone" (1974), "Feelins" (1975), "I Still Believe in Waltzes", "I Can't Love You Enough" and many others. Together, Conway and Loretta (as they were known in their act), won four consecutive Country Music Association awards for vocal duo (1972 -1975).

In 1973, Twitty released "You've Never Been This Far Before", which was #1 for three weeks that September. Some disc jockeys refused to play the song because of its suggestive lyrics.

Twitty lived for many years in Hendersonville, Tennessee, just north of Nashville, where he built a country music entertainment complex called Twitty City. Its lavish displays of Christmas lights were a famous local sight. It has since been sold to the Trinity Broadcasting Network and converted to a Christian music venue.

Twitty never won a solo CMA award. By the end of his tenure at MCA in 1981, he had accumulated 32 No. 1 hits, while another 15 had reached the Top 5. He moved to Warner Bros. Records in 1982, where he had another 11 No. 1 hits. By 1987, Twitty was back at MCA where he continued to score top 10 hits until 1991.

In 1993, Twitty became ill while performing in Branson, Missouri, and was in pain while he was on the tour bus. He died of an abdominal aneurysm. Shortly before he died, he had recorded a new album, "Final Touches".

Conway Twitty was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1999 and his pioneering contribution has been recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame, as well.

Twitty married three times. After his death, his widow, Dee Henry Jenkins, and his four grown children from the previous marriages, Michael, Joni, Kathy and Jimmy Jenkins engaged in a publicly visible dispute over the estate. His will had not been updated to account for the third marriage, but Tennessee law reserves one third of any estate to the widow. A public auction of much property and memorabilia was held due to the inability of the heirs to agree on a division of the assets.

While Twitty has been known to cover songs – most notably "Slow Hand," which was a major pop hit for the Pointer Sisters – his own songs have not been covered that often. However, three notable covers include George Jones' rendition of "Hello Darlin", Blake Shelton's "Goodbye Time", and Elvis Presley's version of "There's A Honky Tonk Angel".

Twitty is often noted for being "The Best Friend a Song Ever Had", and to his fans, the statement rings true years after his passing. A story from Tennessee illustrates the power of Conway's music. A man had left his house, his wife and children and had been absent for quite some time. When asked if she thought he was going to come back the woman replied "I know he'll be back, he didn't take his Conway records." A few days later the man returned saying he needed a break, but his wife's faith in her husband's love of Conway Twitty music illustrates the devotion of his fans.

Twitty's last chart appearance on the country charts was a duet with Anita Cochran, "I Want to Hear a Cheating Song" (2004). Twitty's voice was electronically created based on one of his hits from the 1980s.

In October, 2004 "Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man" (sung by Conway Twitty & Loretta Lynn) appeared on the popular videogame "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas", playing on fictional country music station K-ROSE.

On March 11, 2007, in the episode "Bill and Peter's Bogus Journey", video clips of Conway Twitty's performances on Hee Haw featured in the animated-series Family Guy.

[edit] Twitty v. Commissioner

In the case Harold L. Jenkins (a.k.a. Conway Twitty) v. Commissioner, 47 T.C.M. (CCH) 238 n.14, Twitty sued to allow his repayment of investors in his bankrupted Twitty Burger fast food chain to be deductible as a business expense. The opinion closed with the following poem:

Twitty Burger went belly up 
But Conway remained true
He repaid his investors, one and all
It was the moral thing to do.
'His fans would not have liked it
It could have hurt his fame
Had any investors sued him
Like Merle Haggard or Sonny James.
'When it was time to file taxes
Conway thought what he would do
Was deduct those payments as a business expense
Under section one-sixty-two.
'In order to allow these deductions
Goes the argument of the Commissioner
The payments must be ordinary and necessary
To a business of the petitioner.
'Had Conway not repaid the investors
His career would have been under cloud,
Under the unique facts of this case
Held: The deductions are allowed.

The IRS responded by allowing the judgment to stand while implying that if a similar case arose in the future their opinion would differ:

Harold Jenkins and Conway Twitty
They are both the same
But one was born
The other achieved fame.
The man is talented
And has many a friend
They opened a restaurant
His name he did lend.
They are two different things
Making burgers and song
The business went sour
It didn't take long.
He repaid his friends
Why did he act
Was it business or friendship
Which is fact?
Business the court held
It's deductible they feel
We disagree with the answer
But let's not appeal.

[edit] Discography

• 1958 Conway Twitty Sings
• 1959 Saturday Night with Conway Twitty
• 1960 Lonely Blue Boy
• 1961 The Conway Twitty Touch
• 1961 The Rock & Roll Story
• 1962 Portrait of a Fool and Others
• 1964 Hit the Road
• 1965 Conway Twitty Sings
• 1965 It's Only Make Believe
• 1966 Look into My Teardrops
• 1968 Here's Conway Twitty and His Lonely Blue Boys
• 1968 Next in Line
• 1969 Darling, You Know I Wouldn't Lie
• 1969 I Love You More Today
• 1969 You Can't Take Country Out of Conway
• 1970 Hello Darlin'
• 1970 To See My Angel Cry/That's When She Started To Stop Loving You
• 1971 How Much More Can She Stand
• 1971 I Wonder What She'll Think About Me Leaving
• 1971 Lead Me On
• 1971 We Only Make Believe
• 1972 Conway Twitty Sings the Blues
• 1972 Conway Twitty
• 1972 I Can't See Me without You
• 1972 Shake It Up
• 1973 Clinging to a Saving Hand
• 1973 I Can't Stop Loving You/(Lost Her Love) On Our Last Date
• 1973 She Needs Someone to Hold Her
• 1973 Steal Away
• 1973 Who Will Pray for Me
• 1973 You've Never Been This Far Before
• 1974 Country Partners
• 1974 Honky Tonk Angel
• 1974 I'm Not Through Loving You Yet
• 1974 Never Ending Song of Love
• 1975 Feelins'
• 1975 High Priest of Country Music
• 1975 Linda on My Mind
• 1975 Star Spangled Songs
• 1975 This Time I've Hurt Her More
• 1976 Now and Then
• 1976 Twitty
• 1976 United Talent
• 1977 Dynamic Duo
• 1977 I've Already Loved You in My Mind
• 1977 Play, Guitar Play
• 1978 Conway Twitty Country
• 1978 Conway
• 1978 Georgia Keeps Pulling On My Ring
• 1978 Honky Tonk Heroes
• 1979 Country Rock
• 1979 Cross Winds
• 1980 Diamond Duet
• 1980 Heart & Soul
• 1980 Rest Your Love on Me
• 1981 Mr. T
• 1981 Two's a Party
• 1982 Dream Maker
• 1982 Number Ones
• 1982 Southern Comfort
• 1983 Conway's #1 Classics, Vol. 2
• 1983 Lost in the Feeling
• 1983 Merry Twismas
• 1984 By Heart
• 1984 Conway Twitty & Loretta Lynn
• 1985 Chasin' Rainbows
• 1985 Don't Call Him a Cowboy
• 1986 A Night with Conway Twitty
• 1986 Fallin' for You for Years
• 1987 Borderline
• 1988 Making Believe
• 1988 Still in Your Dreams
• 1989 House on Old Lonesome Road
• 1990 Crazy in Love
• 1991 #1's, Vol. 2
• 1991 #1's, Vol. 1
• 1991 Even Now
• 1992 Country Gospel Greats
• 1993 Final Touches
• 1995 Sings Songs of Love
• 1996 Crazy Dreams
• 2002 Road That I Walk

[edit] References

1. ^ The Hamilton Spectator Newspaper- Souvenir Edition page MP44 (Saturday June 10, 2006). The Hamilton Memory Project;. Press release. Retrieved on 2007-01-29.

[edit] External links

• Conway Twitty Photo Galleries
• Twitty news stories
• Twitty tribute by the Hendersonville Police Department
• Conway Twitty at the All Music Guide